How to get my puppies to walk on a lead?
Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 at
8:12 am
Nеіthеr οf mу puppies seem аll thаt willing tο walk οn a lead, аnd I don’t want tο drag thеm.
One οf thеm јυѕt sits thеrе аnd won’t walk thе οthеr one poops аnd wets herself whеn thе lead goes οn thеn cries аnd won’t walk οn thе lead.
Thеу аrе both 4 months οld. аnd Jack Russell’s.
Whаt саn I dο??
Nеіthеr οf thеm mind wearing a collar, іt іѕ always οn thеm.
I ѕhουld сlаrіfу thаt thеу аrе retractable leashes іf thаt mаkеѕ аnу differences.
They arn’t comfortable on a leash. Get two extra leashes. cut the ends so that there is no hole and cannot get snagged. When you are home with them and they are out let them run around the house with them on. Associate putting the leash on with food. Get a favorite yummy treat and as you are clipping it on, reward.
Get a couple of cheap short leads and let the dogs drag them around the house until they get used to the lead attached to the collar.
You need to supervise to make sure they don’t get caught up on anything.
From time to time just pick up the lead and drop it again. As they get comfortable with that you can hold the lead for longer. They will get used to you handling the lead that way.
Good luck.
Try a Gentle Leader or any other sort of a harness versus a leash. That way you are guiding them more by their upper body instead of dragging them along by their necks. If they feel like their collar is choking them, they’ll be less willing to be lead aroud by it. Leave the harness on even while they are just at home with you (take the harness off if you will not be home to monitor them and make sure they don’t chew/eat it) . Do that for 2 weeks so they get used to the harness. It begins to feel comfortable to them,
Hi Brandon,
This is actually pretty normal and the good news is that they’ll grow out of it. Our puppy did this too and so did many of the dogs in her puppy kindergarten class.
I’d highly recommend enrolling them in a puppy kindergarten class. It’ll do wonders and they learn SO fast when they’re this young.
In the mean time, try just doing a little at a time. Try walking them on the leashes when they’re indoors and in a comfortable place. Get them used to being outside on leash but not walking. Then just do very small bits at a time.
Also, I would recommend regular leashes and not retractable. They need to be lead, especially at this point. Retractable leashes give them too much freedom and do not teach them to follow you, which is what you want, right?
GOOD LUCK! They’ll get there. Patience is the number one thing for puppies. (We have a house full of foster pups right now.)
P.S. I’d also recommend Cesar Milan’s books!